The Catalyst

Medicare: Medicare celebrated its 50th anniversary this week! To note the occasion, we looked at the continued success of Part D, which helps many older Americans and people living with disabilities:

Learn from patients themselves about how Part D helps them in a new video.

Find out about the more than 435 medicines in development for older Americans.

Get more information about how average monthly premiums for 2016 Part D plans will remain relatively stable, just as they have since 2011.

Fact Check Fridays: Today we launched “Fact Check Fridays,” a series we’ll be using to separate truth from fiction and set the record straight. This week’s fact-check: the truth about inter partes review (IPR) and patent litigation reform.

Conversations and healthy debate about issues facing our industry and the health care system are critical to addressing some of today’s challenges and opportunities. The Catalyst welcomes guest contributors including patients, stakeholders, innovators and others to share their perspectives and point of view. Like in our Conversations series, views represented here may not be those of PhRMA, though they are no less key to a healthy dialogue on issues in health care today.

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act, we’re pleased to host a guest blog fromKaty Beh Neas, executive vice president, public affairs for Easter Seals.

Today, we’re pleased to be kicking off our newest Catalyst blog series: Fact Check Friday. We’ll be using this space to separate truth from fiction and set the record straight when the rhetoric strays too far from reality.

First up in our series, patent litigation reform and the inter partes review (IPR) process.

Today we bring you a special edition of #MedicareMonday on Medicare’s 50th anniversary. As Medicare celebrates 50 years, we wanted to remind you about some of our Medicare resources and continue highlighting the success of the prescription drug benefit, also known as Part D.

Just yesterday, average monthly premiums for 2016 Part D plans were announced and they will remain relatively stable as they have since 2011, keeping access to prescription drug coverage affordable for seniors and people living with disabilities.

Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced that average monthly premiums for Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage in 2016 will remain stable at an estimated $32.50 per month. This reflects the fact that Part D is a robust marketplace and continues to work to keep costs low for both beneficiaries and taxpayers because of substantial competition and negotiation in the program.

In case you missed it, the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) called the drug-price control recommendations made by 118 oncologists published in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings “misguided because most of the doctors behind the suggestions work for large, teaching hospitals where cancer care is more expensive than at cancer clinics.”

Check out a few highlights below and read the story here. A subscription to Inside Health Policy is required.

According to Community Oncology Alliance Executive Director Okon, “Most of the doctors who endorsed the recommendations in the journal are employed by large teaching institutions, many of which receive 340B drug discounts, and nearly 30 percent of the signatories are employed by a small group of hospitals where cancer care is high even compared to teaching hospitals.”

New National Health Expenditure (NHE) projections released today by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) call into question claims that have been made in recent months about the sustainability of prescription drug spending. Even with new treatments and cures for hepatitis c, high cholesterol and cancer, spending on retail prescription medicines is projected to remain approximately 10 percent of U.S. health care spending through 2024 – the same percentage as in 1960.

As health care payers seek to transition to new, value-based payment models, clinical pathways are one strategy payers and providers are using in their efforts to contain costs and promote evidence-based care. New research released this week by Avalere Health examines current practices related to these programs and stakeholder reactions to their growing use.

Last week, we introduced two hypothetical patients, Sheryl and Bill, who are working to get their cholesterol levels under control. Today we highlight George and Betty. George is able to control his cholesterol with better adherence to his statin therapy. In contrast, Betty struggles to control her cholesterol level since she was forced to discontinue her statin therapy due to side effects (i.e., muscle pain and aches). These stories illustrate the different tools patients and physicians can use to bring down cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of dangerous cardiovascular events. They also show the unmet medical need that remains and how important new treatment options could be for some patients.

As Congress considers patent legislation known as H.R. 9, the Innovation Act, and S. 1137, the PATENT Act, health care leaders – from patient groups to Members of Congress to trade associations – continue reminding lawmakers about the critical importance of ensuring a fair and reliable patent system.

In their recent op-ed published in The Hill, John Castellani, president and chief executive officer, PhRMA, and James Greenwood, president and chief executive officer, Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), outline a clear path forward for reform: recognize the unique role of patents in the biopharmaceutical industry by exempting certain biopharmaceutical patents from the inter partes review (IPR) process at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). As Castellani and Greenwood write, “patents are the lifeblood of any new medicine. And our industry’s reliance on them is unique; while your cellphone might be protected by hundreds of patents, the new medicine you or your loved ones take is usually only protected by just a handful.”